The End of the Union's Mississippi Squadron-- Part 1

AUGUST 14TH, 1865:  Rear Admiral S.P. Lee hauled down his flag on the USS Tempest and the Mississippi Squadron ceased to exist.  The squadron had played a pivotal role in fashioning the Union's ultimate victory.

In the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers Campaign, naval actions had been decisive in rolling back the Confederacy's northern frontier from Kentucky to Mississippi and Alabama.

Its Mississippi operations at Vicksburg and elsewhere, combined with Admiral Farragut's victory at New Orleans, had severed the Confederacy and denied to its eastern portion the vital supplies of the provision-rich western half.

--Old B-Runner